NASA Artemis II mission, the first crewed flight around the Moon in more than fifty years, has been delayed after a newly discovered technical fault ruled out its planned 6 March 2026 launch. The next possible launch window is now in early April, depending on technical fixes and the position of the Moon in its orbit.
The ten day mission will test NASA’s powerful Space Launch System rocket and the Orion capsule, sending four astronauts thousands of kilometres beyond the Moon to check life support, navigation and propulsion systems. However, Artemis II will not land on the Moon. It is designed to prepare for a future landing mission.
The crew consists of NASA commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, who will become the first Canadian to travel to the Moon. The mission is part of NASA’s wider Artemis programme, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972 and eventually establish a long term human presence there.
